
08/15/2025
The Boeing 747-8 has one of the most advanced wing designs ever put on a large commercial jet. Boeing essentially redesigned the wing from the earlier 747-400 to make the 747-8 more fuel efficient and capable.
Here are the key features of the 747-8 wing design:
* Larger Wing Span – The 747-8’s wingspan is about 224 ft 7 in (68.4 m), nearly 13 feet longer than the 747-400.
* New Wing Tips – It has raked wingtips instead of winglets, improving lift-to-drag ratio and reducing fuel burn.
* Advanced Airfoils – The wing uses a modern supercritical airfoil shape, which delays shockwaves at high speed and improves cruise efficiency.
* Redesigned Trailing Edge – The wing has new double-slotted inboard flaps and single-slotted outboard flaps for better takeoff/landing performance.
* Fuel Capacity – The larger wing holds more fuel (up to \~64,225 gallons / 243,120 liters), which increases range.
* Materials & Structure – Mostly aluminum, but optimized with lighter structural design and updated load distribution to handle the bigger engines (GE GEnx-2B67).
* Flexibility – The new wing flexes more than the 747-400, helping absorb turbulence and reduce stress.
👉 In short: The 747-8 wing is longer, more aerodynamic, and more fuel-efficient, borrowing design technology from the 787 Dreamliner.